Flossing devices of various kinds are known in the art. For example, U.S. Utility Pat. No. 664,126 describes a simple floss holder aligned with the grasping means, U.S. Utility Pat. No. 5,483,982 shows a disposable floss holder bow perpendicular with the grasping means, and U.S. Utility Pat. No. 3,927,686 discloses a swiveling head disposable bow on a grasping means. Other kinds, such as different types of bows held on different type of handles or even combined with a toothbrush are also known.
The above-mentioned flossing devices do not satisfactorily fulfill their task. The known manually operated bow-type flossers, because they have the dental floss either aligned or perpendicular with the handle, are difficult to operate when trying to clean the back teeth or front teeth because of the inappropriate orientation of the floss string. Other bow-type devices do not have the appropriate means for securing the bow on the handle. Another shortcoming of all of these prior art bow-type flossers is that the tension in the flossing string is fixed, so that the relatively high tension required to enable proper insertion of the floss between the teeth, which action requires the floss to remain tense, does not allow the floss to curve around the profile of the teeth away from the interdental space. As a consequence, proper cleaning of plaque and bacteria from surfaces of the teeth other than interdental surfaces is not readily performed. Furthermore, the high tension of the floss in prior art flossers presents a danger of easily wounding the delicate tissue of the gums when attempting to clean surfaces of the teeth other than the interdental spaces.
The disclosures of each of the publications mentioned in this section and in other sections of the specification are hereby incorporated by reference, each in its entirety.